1000 primary and secondary schools in deficit

Almost 1000 schools – or 40 per cent – of New Zealand’s state and integrated primary and secondary schools are in deficit, Labour’s Education spokesperson Chris Hipkins says.

Figures obtained by Labour show that in 2014 there were 994 schools which posted a deficit. Many of those deficits were higher than $100,000 and one school’s was more than $1 million.

“This data also shows that 12 schools were in debt and eight of these were low decile.

“It is a shocking state of affairs that so many schools are running at a loss. There have already been concerns this means students are missing out on outdoor programmes, library books and technology.

“National’s underfunding of schools is putting more and more financial strain on them. The less money schools get from the Government, the more they have to rely on so-called ‘voluntary’ donations.

“These figures will be particularly galling for those parents whose children are sitting in leaking mouldy classrooms while the Ministry rehouses itself in flash new offices in Wellington featuring a $2.6 million staircase,” Chris Hipkins says.